Snowshoers take to Tahoe trails for good cause

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It was a beautiful Sunday morning at Historic Camp Richardson Resort for walkers and racers in the 14th annual Fresh Tracks 5K snowshoe event hosted by the Tahoe Mountain Milers Running Club.

For the past eight years, all proceeds from the Fresh Tracks walk and race have gone to the Eric Nageotte-Lowe Scholarship Fund that benefits Heavenly Mountain Resort's freestyle team. Nageotte and her husband, Ron, began organizing the event after Eric's death in 2004 as a way to honor the memory of Ron's son and support his former teammates. On Sunday, 32 snowshoers came out in support of the charity.

Ray Sidney, 43, smoked the groomed track with a time of 25:22 for first place overall. Doug Cichowicz, 55, wasn't far behind in second place in 26:51, and Adolfo Maestas, 54, was third in 27:42.

For the women, Deni Sullivan, 43, edged her competitor to take first place for the women in 28:43. Sullivan was fourth overall. Kim George took second among the women in 28:44, and Holly Ratcliff was third in 32:27.

This was the first year that the Heavenly Freestyle Team didn't have a competition scheduled the same Sunday as the Fresh Tracks race. Three teammates played hooky from practice on the mountain with coach Jere Crawford (we won't tell who) to come out and thank everyone for supporting the team. They cheered and rang bells as the walkers and racers approached the finish line. Crawford's wife of three days, Barbara Crawford, won the women's 50-59 age group division in 46:44.

Race organizers would like to give a special thanks to Kris Knox, Mai Dalton, Kevin Turner, Travis and Chris at Historic Camp Richardson Resort. Camp Richardson is a long time sponsor of the snowshoe event, providing a venue and refreshments.

Jan Bleiweiss also provided sweatshirts for participants, and Dave Cotter was the chief cook. Renee Gorevin created beautiful snowshoe awards for the different age groups. Cheryl Lloyd helped mark the course, Peggy Lallemant worked registration. The president of the Tahoe Mountain Milers, Katie Bell helped set up, and Mark Gorevin worked his magic with the timing system.

The Tahoe Mountain Milers Running Club is proud to have the Heavenly Freestyle Ski Team as its beneficiary through the Eric Nageotte-Lowe Scholarship Fund.